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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Most Powerful Arab Woman

UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi has been named the most powerful Arab woman and the 70th most powerful woman in the world by US-based Forbes magazine.

According to Forbes’ list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Shaikha Lubna is “a regional power in her own right” and constantly works to improve the UAE’s global status and bolster the federal government’s efforts to diversify the country’s economy. Her persistent calls for a trade policy that is based on openness and competitiveness helped put the UAE on the road to economic recovery and development, the magazine said.

Shaikha Lubna is the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the UAE: She is former minister of economy and current Minister of Foreign Trade, having run a successful online auction company and worked as a manager for the agency charged with automating the UAE’s federal government, Forbes explained.

Choosing Shaikha Lubna in the 70th place on the list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women was a recognition of her fight to improve the rights of women in the region and humanitarian efforts for sustainable development and issues of children and the youth in other Arab and Muslim countries.